When it comes to water polo, Greece has always been a force to be reckoned with, no matter the category. This was confirmed on Monday, when the youth team (U-19) added another trophy in the country’s already rich collection, after getting to overcome the obstacle of Montenegro (14-12) in the final of the European Championship, held in Minsk.
The Greeks didn’t start the final in the best way possible, as they went behind by two goals in the first quarter. Eventually though, they managed to find a goal, but they couldn’t keep their opponents out of their own net, with the first part of the game ending with Greece trailing by three (3-5). Thankfully, the youngsters showed an entirely different face in the second quarter and began their counterattack, equalising and even taking the lead before half time (8-7).
After that, Greece maintained the advantage but their opposition wouldn’t let them break away for more than two goals. That is until one and a half minutes before the game was over, when Gkiouvetsis made it 12-9 and practically crushed any hopes Montenegro may have had for the title. This way, Greece managed to win the title without a single loss, in a display of dominance.
The quarters: 3-5, 5-2, 4-2, 3-2
Goalscorers:
- Greece: Rompopoulos 1, Gkiouvetsis 5, Nikolaidis 2, Papanastasiou 3, Alafragkis 1, Kalogeropoulos 1, Kakaris 1
- Montenegro: Franetta 1, D. Radovic 5, Matkovic 3, D. Raskovic 1, Ceckovic 1, Mijuskovic 1
GREEK WOMEN’S YOUTH TEAM CLAIMS BRONZE IN WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
That wasn’t the only success Greece had in water polo this past week, as the women’s youth team also managed to claim the bronze medal in the World Championships that were held in Belarus, defeating Australia in the third place final, 7-3.
In fact, Maria Myriokefalitaki was the top scorer of the competition, ending the tournament with 29 goals in her name.
Adding to Greece’s water polo success in 2018, their U-18 men’s team claimed gold a couple of weeks ago at the FINA World Championships in Hungary.
